Novice students at universities do not only need to develop a more general academic vocabulary, they also need to master the subject vocabulary of their chosen course of study. This entails having access to tools and methods to decode subject vocabulary, and thereby developing a deeper understanding of its concepts. For many students, the development of concept literacy remains a huge challenge. Concept literacy can be described as the ability to read and understand subject-specific vocabulary and language forms as part of how knowledge is constructed in the discipline (Young 2005:8). The purpose of this study is to illustrate how the use of a multilingual mobile dictionary, MobiLex, can be beneficial for the improvement of concept literacy for economic and management sciences (EMS) education students. The article elaborates on EMS students’ literacy needs within a multilingual context where the language of teaching and learning is not necessarily the home language of the students. The students’ lexicographical needs are further deliberated on and it is argued that dictionaries, and especially LSP dictionaries, have an important role to play in the clarification of subject vocabulary. Students that receive university education in a language other than their mother tongue need considerably more support with the development of concept literacy. The importance of concept literacy with reference to MobiLex is advocated, underpinned by the theoretical framework of lexicographical user perspective, dictionary functionality and concept literacy.